Silent door latch



R. JOY.

SILENT DOOR LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-22, 1915.

1,19%,636' Patented Aug. 15,1916.

16 A IIIII \VI'LLNESSES: INVENTOR a rates.

SILENT DOOR-LATCH.

Application filed November 22. 1915. Serial No. 62,735.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ronnn'r JOY, a cit1- zen of the United States,residing at the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in SilentDoor-Latches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a device for insuring the silent opening andclosing of doors, and is especially adapted for hospitals and placeswhere the noise of opening and closing doors will disturb and annoy thepatients.

It consists in a strike plate and door latch having pockets containinghardwood, rubber, compressed asbestos fiber, or equivalent substanceswhich will suppress the noise when the two parts come together.

It also comprises details of construction which will be more fullyexplained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a horizontal section, showing the strike plate and part of the doorwith the catch engaged with said plate; also the position of the latch(in dotted lines) when first engaging the strike plate. Fig. 2 is afront view of the strike plate. Fi 3 is a sectional edge view on line 330 Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional View, showing the manner of insertingthe contact medium, on line 44 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a section of thelatch, showing the manner of securing the cushion material. Fig. 6 is aview'of the latch in readiness for the cushion lining. Fig. 7 is a viewof the lining. Fig. 8 shows the two parts united.

Doors as ordinarily constructed are closed by a spring or otherwise, andwhen the inclined surface of the latch strikes the plate it makesconsiderable noise. The further movement of the door carries the latchbeyond the end of the strike plate and the im pelling spring of thelatch will cause the latch to shoot into engagement with the plate, thusmaking an additional noise, which, though slight, will be annoying topatients in delicate conditions. My invention is designed to overcomethis difliculty.

As shown in the drawings, A represents a section of a door in which aspring-actuated latch is incased and B is the door casin having a strikeplate with which the latch may engage. The plate 5 is secured on thedoor casing in line with the latch and has openings, as shown at 3 and4, for the spring Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

latch and also for the bolt of the usual lock. The extension 2 of plate5, with which the latch first engages, is made with a depressed part orchamber having end walls as shown in Fig. 3 to receive a contact piece 6which may be made of any suitable sufficiently hard material, such aswood, hard rubber, or asbestos fiber, which will not cause any audiblenoise when struck by the approaching latch. This material may be securedin the depression of the part 2 by bolts, pins, or screws, as at 7, andmay also be perfo-- rated with small holes on its face, as at 8,

which are adapted to receive a lubricating material, such as graphite,or equivalent compound, over which the point of the latch 'will easilyslide. The outer end of this part 6 is curved so that when the latch ofthe closing door approaches it will strike this portion at an angle, andwill slide smoothly and softly over the surface of the material until itreaches the end of the strike plate and is ready to enter the keeperopening 3.

The end of the contact piece 6 is inclined, as shown at 6 the anglebeing preferably about 15, so that when the end of the latch has reachedthis point the continued slow closing of the door will allow the end ofthe latch to slip easily over this inclined end, being impelled by theusual latch spring until the latch has fully engaged with the keeper;and this incline also insures the taking up of any looseness which mightcause a rattling after the parts are fully engaged.

The latch 9 is made of the usual triangular form and has the centralportion of its incline and rectangular meeting faces cut away to form aspace which is adapted to receive the cushion material 10 which isformed to fit in this cut-away space. This cushion material is formed,as plainly shown in Fig. 7, and when fitted into the channel of the faceof the latch may be secured therein by pins 11 passing transverselythrough the sides of the latch and the interposed cushion 10. A screw 12may also be used passing through the body of the latch and cushionmaterial.

The operation of the device will then be as follows: When the door isallowed to close, the angular point of the latch first comes in contactwith the lining 6 of the strike plate, as indicated in dotted lines inFig. 1, and the cushion material 10 of the latch comes in contact withthe outer curved end of the similar cushion 6 of the strike plate, thusforcing the latch backward into 1ts chamber against the compression ofthe spring 13. The door continuing to close under whatever impulse isapplied to it, the point of the latch will slide smoothly over thelining of the strike plate and its smoothness of operation will beincreased by the lubricated surface over which it moves. When the latchhas reached the end of the strike plate it will be impelled forward, bythe action of the spring 13, but instead of dropping suddenly into enagement with the keeper, it will slide gra ually over the inclined end6-and will thus be held back and allowed to close into its positiongradually and without any noise, and, as before stated, the inclinewillcause it to fit closely in the keeper so that wind or other actionwill not cause the latch to rattle in the keeper.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is-- 1. In combination with a striker plate having alatch receiving opening and an ex tension alined with-the opening andhaving a chambered part, a contact piece embedded in said chambered parthavin its end free and ta ered outwardly, the en s of said contact pieceterminating beyond the ends of said extension and the end adjacent thelatch receiving opening extendinginto the latter, said contact piecehaving a series of erforations adapted to receive a lubricat- 1ngsubstance. i

2. In combination with a striker plate having of which is open, saidchamber having end walls, a non-metallic contact piece fitted in thechamber and rigidly secured thereto and having end parts abutting theend walls of the chamber and having its end terminals extending beyondthe end walls of the chamber.

3. In combination with a latch, and a striker plate having a latchreceiving opening'and an extension, a non-metallic contact piececonnected to and extending beyond the ends of the extension and into thelatch' receiving opening, and a facin of compressible material on thelatch a apted to ride -over said contact piece.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 'my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ROBERT JOY. Witnesses:

JOHN H. HERRING, W. W. HEALEr.

a latch receiving opening, and an extenslon formed with a chamber thefront

